Monsters of Television

“Because it’s going to be you, Jack.”

Dammit, Lost.

I knew an episode like this had to be in the pipeline, and I wasn’t totally looking forward to it from a reviewer/critic perspective. Maintaining a level of analysis while still getting wildly emotional about what occurs in an episode is not an easy thing to do, so I apologize in advance if this piece veers back and forth between sobs and discussion.

I’ll start with some general thoughts about the episode, and then dive into the nitty-gritty of the character movements (at which point, if I were reading this aloud, I’d probably start cry-talking like they do in Community). It’s going to be a long-ish piece, so settle in.

The episode, overall, suffers from an unevenness that prevents it from reaching really terrific heights. This isn’t a new occurrence, as plenty of episodes in the past have had instances where one narrative perspective, Island or flashback/forward/sideways, was more engaging than the other. It’s a frustration since the less engaging perspective would always interrupt least when you wanted it to, and would retard any of the momentum in the more interesting perspective.

For the first time this season, the flash-sideways was a not only frustratingly drawn out, but got in the way of an exciting Island story. Sideways-Jack’s desire to fix Sideways-Locke not only retreads old Jack ideas, but takes forever to reach the point at the end of the episode where the two have a confrontation that reveals how Sideways-Locke lost the use of his legs. This scene, the truly rewarding part of the flash-sideways, does provide a nice variation on Locke’s story, making his stubbornness about guilt, not anger.  But the rest of the flash-sideways is mired in more “Oh, you were on Flight 815, too?” stuff that needs to come to a head soon.

Indeed, this was this was the one time this season that the flash-sideways didn’t feel totally necessary to the overall episode. It wasn’t that the parallels between the Jacks and Lockes didn’t make sense, they did, it’s just that they felt a tad redundant at this point in the season. Jack and Locke, regardless of their dimensional allegiances, have always had issues letting go, and to visit this ground again, with very little variation, is frustrating.

Luckily, the Island stuff was the kind of high adventure, running and shooting and exploding, that I’ve kind of missed. And what made it all the more exciting, really, was that is centered around the left standing original cast (and Lapidus). It was like old times again! And it was those old times that eventually led to all the sadness and tears.

The show more or less telegraphed that Smocke had done something with Jack’s backpack, which between all the shooting and the diving into the water, you could almost forget about. Upon discovering the C4 that Smocke had snuck into Jack’s bad, the show suddenly shifted to an intense old school dynamic. Jack was trying to save someone’s life while maintaining control of a desperate and scared group. Sawyer wanted to act impulsively and in opposition to Jack. Zombie Sayid became regular Sayid and his technical know-how, long missing in the show, suddenly returned as he tried to figure out how to diffuse the bomb.

It’s a taunt, wonderfully crafted scene. Jack’s faith in the group’s position within the Island’s needs (except for Kate and one of the Kwons), that the bomb will not go off because of it, is the gambit of the episode, what Jack’s showdown with Richard all those episodes ago set us up for. We know that it won’t go off. Jack knows it won’t go off. No one else is willing to believe him. And it’s the lack of faith, of trust, that gets Lapidus, Sayid, and Sun and Jin killed. Each in turn.

Lapidus’ role this season has been, sadly, minimal. A terrific character from seasons 4 and 5, I’ve been frustrated by his lack of prominence this season. While I’m sure a few are hanging onto hope that Lapidus will return, I have my doubts. That said, his “Aw, hell.” last words were entirely fitting with the character, a moment of humor in a dire situation.

Sayid’s self-sacrifice, carrying the bomb away from the group, to the other end of the sub, is also totally fitting. While I miss the opportunity to really mourn the death of one of my favorite characters, that character has been dead since the season began. Desmond’s (still alive!) words to him in the last episode obviously punctured Smocke’s  influence a bit, as Sayid made a joke in this episode (“At least you didn’t have to paddle.”) but also saw a place for true redemption. Sayid’s struggle has always been that he’s a good man who has done horrible things, and his sacrifice (yes, I get the suicide bomber angle) is the final act of a good man.

But then there’s Sun and Jin. Much like with Charlie’s death in season 3, the show manages to get sobs and tears from me about characters I had written off as caring about. Indeed, I’ve spent a bit of time discussing my lack of interest in Sun and Jin during the past couple of seasons due to the show’s lack of interest in them. But their death scene proves just how good this show can be at reminding you that deep down, you still care about them. It’s cruel that they’re reunited with one another only to die so soon after, but Jin’s refusal to leave sent me over the edge (for a lot it was Hurley crying). While I wish their last words had been in Korean, Michael Giacchino’s mixing of “Life and Death” and “There’s No Place Like Home” more than made up for it.

I’m going to save my discussion about Smocke as the Big Bad for next week (since I think it’ll fit in that episode as well, given the preview). Instead, I want to close with a brief discussion about the response to the four deaths in this episode. Dave Itzkoff pointed this out on Twitter: “For Lost fans who think killing off characters indiscriminately is the apex of storytelling, check out a tearjerker called Friday the 13th.” and “[…]Why build up our investment in characters just to toss them away b/c the show is ending?” And Jeremy Mongeau tweeted: “End of series deaths can work, but they need to feel organic to arcs. Not just about raising stakes or clearing chessboards.”

My response to Itzkoff was to point that that’s how Stephen King does it. And Jeremy is correct as well. A number of reviews mentioned that this episode raised the stakes, and it could feel like chessboard clearing (Lapidus’ death in this episode and Illana’s death a few episodes ago being good examples of this). I’d argue, however, that the deaths of Sayid and the Kwons still fit within how Lost deals with character dying: they’ve reached the end of their (redemptive) journey. It’s how and when many major characters die on the show. Sayid’s self-sacrifice is the ultimate act of penance he can perform. Sun and Jin have always had distance between them (emotionally, geographically, chronologically), and when given the chance to repeat that, Jin refuses, putting an end to the cycle of distance.

FINAL THOUGHTS

• I need a scene explaining why Widmore wasn’t guarding his sub. My only guess is that he’s in league with Smocke for some reason, but that makes no sense.
• Still no sign of the Snark Trio. I hope that they’re back soon. Otherwise, massive disservice to Benjamin Linus.
• Kate should probably be dead at this point. Or at least very near to death. She must have Wolverine-like healing abilities.
• Just in case you weren’t aware, there are big things planned for the finale. I don’t know how the affiliates are going to feel about it, and you may need to make lots of room on the DVR.